On Monday, the RIAA filed lawsuits against 261 alleged file sharers in federal courts around the country.
Here’s a sample complaint.
Here’s a long, but ugly and incomplete, collection of articles and analysis:
AP: Record Industry Sues Music File Swappers
BBC: Music industry starts legal fight
IDG: RIAA sues 261 music uploaders
WSJ: Music Industry Presses ‘Play’
On Plan to Save Its Business
TechTV: Song Swappers Sued
Scott Rosenberg: The music industry’s pie rats strike back
NY Times: 261 Lawsuits Filed on Internet Music Sharing
LA Times:
Piracy Gets Mixed Reviews in Industry File sharing is seen as a burden and a boon
Legal Effort May Slow but Not Stop Music Revolution
Surprise Is a Common Reaction of Those Sued. Some say they didn’t know sharing music via PC was illegal. Others claim tech ingorance.
Sympathy for the Sharer
Perhaps the RIAA attorneys should have gone through the subpoenas a bit more thoroughly to avoid suing sympathetic defendants:
Elderly man, schoolgirl, professor among file-swapping defendants
Music lawsuits snare 18 in Bay Area
20 Colorado Residents Sued Over Internet Music Downloads
Boston Globe: Group sues 261 over music-sharing 46 are accused in Boston area
News.com: RIAA settles with 12-year-old girl for “only” $2,000.
Wired News: Schoolgirl Settles With RIAA
Good Morning Silicon Valley: Music industry to recoup alleged file-sharing losses one 12-year-old at a time
Amnesty
Clean Slate program description and affadavit.
Slate: An Offer You Can Refuse. The RIAA’s amnesty deal may not keep you from being sued.
Salon: We don’t need your stinkin’ amnesty!
EFF’s Fred von Lohmann in the LA Times: ‘Amnesty’ for Music File Sharing Is a Sham
Other legal and legislative responses
Senator Norm Coleman responds to amnesty proposal by recording industry
As I have stated before, the recording industry has legitimate copyright interests to protect. The process they use to protect those interests remains a concern of mine. I will be announcing hearings soon to closely scrutinize the tactics, technology and laws used not only in the 262 lawsuits filed today, but also those that were used to target the more than 1,600 people subpoenaed to date by the RIAA.
A lawsuit was filed against the RIAA on behalf of the general public of the state of California which seeks injunctive relief to “put an end to [RIAA’s] unlawful, unfair and deceptive ‘Amnesty’ or ‘Clean Slate Program’– which consists of deceptive and misleading representations by the RIAA.”
USA Today: Fight over free music on Web coming to Congress
(via many sources, but beSpacific and FurdLog were particularly useful)
